Smoked Pork Shoulder Recipe
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Category: |
Category: |
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Ingredients: |
Ingredients: Pork Shoulder (Butt) with BONE IN. Typical weight used in this recipe was between 8-12 lbs. Can be any size though.
Salt
Rub mix ingredients: sugar, brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, ground black pepper, ground ginger powder, onion powder, rosemary powder
Olive oil
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Directions: |
Directions:Step 1 - Prepare and dry brine the pork shoulder:
Rinse the pork shoulder with cold water and pat dry with a paper towel. Salt all parts of the shoulder. Use no more than 1/2 tsp. of salt per 1 lb. of meat. Place salted meat into a covered container and refrigerate for at least 12 hours ahead of cooking.
Step 2 - Prepare the rub mix:
Mix all the following dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl using a whisk:
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup paprika
1/4 cup garlic powder
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
2 tablespoons ground ginger powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 teaspoons rosemary powder
Once all whisked together, store in a covered container until needed. This amount of rub mix will yield enough to cover 4 or more pork shoulders. Any unused mix can be stored at room temperature for later use.
Step 3 - Smoke (cook) the meat:
Remove dry-brined pork shoulder from refrigerator and allow to begin warming to room temperature. Preheat smoker (or other cooking apparatus) to anywhere from 235º - 265º. Cover entire pork shoulder with a thin layer of olive oil. You can pour approximately 1 tablespoon on the top, rub it around evenly including on the sides, then repeat on the bottom (fatty side). Next, sprinkle enough rub mix to coat all parts of the pork, making sure you get inside all nooks and crannies. As long as the entire meat has a reddish tint to it (from the paprika) you should be fine, but you can add as much as you prefer. It doesn't stick very well like a crust so don't expect that. Once you've coated the pork, place directly onto a cooking rack (the meat will still be cool/cold which is okay). Due to the amount of dripping that will occur, place a drip tray on the next lower cooking rack, preferably a disposable one with a liner built in to the tray to absorb most of the liquid. Cook for 10-12 hours.
Step 4 - Remove the meat from the smoker, let sit, then shred:
Gently tug on the bone. If it moves would be easily removed (that's what you want) then let it sit. If the bone doesn't move easily, cook for another hour and repeat until the bone does move easily. Once you know the bone would pull out easily, allow the pork to sit for at least 20-30 minutes. This will enable the meat to absorb and redistribute liquid evenly inside before shredding, as well as allow the meat to be cool enough to shred. When it's time, remove the bone and discard. Shred the meat, discarding any fatty pieces. There won't be much fat left, and the fatty underside of the meat will be much thinner and contains some good pieces so don't miss those!
Step 5 - Serve and enjoy:
Enough said! :-) |
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Number Of
Servings: |
Number Of
Servings:12-15 (will vary) |
Preparation
Time: |
Preparation
Time:12+ hours |
Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: I use an electric, digital Bradley Smoker that self-feeds wooden pucks on a burner. You can almost set it and forget it! Every 2-3 hours you need to replace the water container inside the smoker that catches the burned pucks, and also likely keeps humidity inside while cooking to avoid drying out the meat. Any smoker would do as long as you maintain the cooking temperature. I have never tried this in an oven as I don't know how well it would create the charred exterior and smoky flavor. Maybe a broiler would work just making sure the temperature doesn't get too high to burn and/or dry out the meat.
I also use organic and non-GMO ingredients whenever possible. Finding a pork shoulder that is organic or non-GMO may be difficult, but the dry ingredients for the rub mix are relatively easy to find in organic and/or non-GMO. I couldn't find organic rosemary powder, but did find it crushed and then used a mortar and pestle to grind into a powder, which could be done with any of the dry ingredients.
NEVER add any salt to the rub mix as there will be plenty of salt on the meat from the dry brine process. Allowing the meat to sit for 12 hours enables the salt to penetrate and create a layer that keeps moisture in while cooking, and allows the smoke to penetrate into the meat. If you didn't salt it beforehand, it would be more dry and less tasty.
I've found the pork shoulder is a very forgiving cut of meet when cooking, meaning it's really hard to over-cook it at the above-mentioned temperature. Due to how thick the meat is before cooking, I've learned through trial and error to shoot for 12 hours of cooking time, and have found longer is better. Low and slow is the name of the game here!
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